the garden within the wasteland

act 1, part 9

The stomach of the beast now lies silent; the constant turning of the gears, puffs of smoke, and the groans of pain within the beast have now all been silenced, and left with the words of the man and his warning, the trio exchanged looks of worry and, more so, of confidence, a common look that spoke loudly without words, "We're fine." Their path was open now; they went up the stairs, Ereo leading them as they marched towards the light.
At the top of the stairs was a massive iron door, heavily rusted and withered. The glowing light bloomed from the window instilled in the door. Mary made her way towards the door, searching for a handle that wasn't there, before trying to push the door open, slamming her shoulder into the heavy metal for it to move only a crack.
"This is going to be a pain," she sighed as she walked away from the door.
"Let me try." Brush spoke in confidence as he began to make his way to the door, giving it a slight push and swinging it open. He scoffed as he placed his hands on his waist, and as he began to move his first leg towards the door, Ereo let out a troubled "wait."
"what? I got the door open," Brush replied.
"We got the door open," Mary scoffed as she crossed her arms.
Ereo made his way to the door, spinning his revolver out of his holster. He snapped his gun hand upwards, firing off a pair of bullets into the air and waiting a second.
"You wanted to check that your gun was working?" asked Brush in a semi-sarcastic voice.
"Checking for activity, we'd hear someone running away or towards us with the gunshots, but not at all; the area is clear." As Ereo spoke, he juggled his gun between his hands before spinning it back into the holster.
"No one lives in this beast anymore; any citizen that lived here rotted where they slept; this is a ghost town."
Brush stepped outside, observing the structures of the beast.
Tall, solid rectangular houses stood all around the flat back of the Enkidu, each one rising, like antennas to heaven, each one capable of housing thousands of people and not remaining empty, unable to keep staring towards the massive houses. Brush turned his eyes towards the floor—the roadless, single, metallic, flat, smooth floor, covered in wires—wires that went nowhere and did nothing; they covered the floor like an infection. Brush dared not step on them as Ereo and Mary made their way behind him as a familiar, echoing voice began reciting.
"A MINDLESS PILGRIM... TOWARDS THE HEAD"
Mary quickly reached for her blade upon hearing the sound; her eyes darted on the brush and ereo; they seemed unfazed.
"What the hell is that voice?"
"No clue, but it helped us get in." brushed the sides of his head, as if fixing his ears
"W...E. HAVE MEET only via sight... CARRY ON! YOU...YOU ARE C...LOSE."
its voice now changing and starting to sound more like the screams of one man
"Close to what?" Mary questioned
"the voice wants us to kill it for some reason, and in return we get access inside the Enkidu," Ereo replied as he stepped closer to brush
"Did you never bother to ask it anything else?" Mary, as her posture began to relax, let out a short hum as she pondered before stepping closer to brush.

"Whose mother?" ereo asked, his question hanging in the air
the brush's head let out a massive beep as the sound of an audio recording began to play
"day.... I don't even remember anymore; I've been in this damned room so long I can't even remember what the sun felt like as it itched on my arms. I hated that itch; now I remember—the itch of skin and flesh; it is so irritating; that isn't an issue anymore for most of my body."
The voice of the man was quiet, almost a whisper, taking frequent pauses between his words.
"I have been working on something... I can remember her touch; that was why I started this project; it was cold and uncaring, but now... what was I even thinking about? It doesn't matter; the security system is prepared now, Mother is awake, and someone is to protect us; someone is to protect everything. I'm starting to think... that's why I'm talking about this... to vent, as Kassandra would put it... I'm starting to question why they still stand before us. Saint Michael challenged the beast and was turned into dust before all of our eyes, but the other saints are unharmed; we are losing a war but having no war to fight.... I made a promise to BURN down that palace, as they have burned down my home. I'm starting to fail in that regard... I'm starting to fail in every regard... I cannot allow myself to remain a failure. I have an idea; I will need someone to help me in the final step... but I have friends. I am sure of that. End of log"
The area remained in the silence of the final declaration of the audio log.